Is Your Child a Follower; Do They Imitate Others? Teach Them How to Build Their Own Personality

Your child imitates the way their friend acts, strives to win the satisfaction of their teammates, and is determined to eat their pasta with ketchup like their brother. Don’t worry, your child has a personality, but remember that this personality needs to be built up; this is why they’re looking for points of reference both inside and outside their family. It’s natural for them to be influenced by others, but if you feel they lack independence and are overdoing it when they adopt others’ examples, you must take on the responsibility to help them and teach them how to distinguish themselves and their personality and desires.

You’re wondering why your child imitates their friend in everything they do, and you forget that you compliment that sociable friend because they’re an example of distinction and intelligence and have their own ideas and projects, as well as more friends. You forget that this friend has everything in the eyes of your child, so why wouldn’t they want to be similar? It’s up to you to boost your child’s self-confidence, applaud their virtues, and shine a light on their good deeds to make them proud of themselves.

Know that it’s natural for your child to imitate another person; at some point in our lives, all of us imitated people or certain ways of doing things until we were able to discover who we really were and build our own personalities. A person who doesn’t imitate has learned nothing. For this reason, it’s up to you as a mother, above all, to watch out for the impact you may have on your children.

It’s also helpful to know that all children don’t have the personalities of leaders, so don’t put pressure on your child in case they are a natural follower and don’t like taking the initiative. The important thing is that you stay close to them and direct them well if they are turning into too much of a follower.

It is often said that children are influenced by others when they don’t know how to say the word “no.” Teach them they should refuse things they don’t like or don’t want to do. Teach them they should take care of themselves before trying to please others.

Teach them, too, how to make choices, ask questions, and think before they agree to anything asked of them.

Tell them about the importance of differences and that they don’t have to be like their friends in order to be friends with them.